The Borgias, Part II: Xátiva

Xátiva is an old Valencian town an hour and a bit away from us. It lies inland, away from the direct route to Valencia and as a consequence we haven't been back since we passed through on a visit to see the construction of our house more than five years ago. That Saturday we didn't get to visit its castle as the gridlock created by the combination of a wedding and road works prevented us from getting up the hill.

On a previous day trip to one of our neighbouring towns, Gandía, back in May we discovered that the infamous Borgia family where dukes there and their statues stand in the town even now despite the rather dodgy reputation of the two Popes they produced and the Machiavellian activities of Lucrezia.

Both Popes, Callixtus III and Alexander VI, were born in Xátiva and gradually the valenciano name Borja became italianised into the way it is recognized today. But it is quite a claim for a town this size to have produced one Pope, let alone two. Their statues stand here too in the main cathedral square.

The castle makes for a fascinating wander and has a lot of history too. There are sturdy fortifications from roman and moorish times and great views over the old town it protected. My favourite part was the windowless prison near the top where one can imagine the fate of the unfortunates that were kept there. It's a bit like the Tower of London in that it was a place of incarceration for royals and aristocracy.

An exhibition at the castle also covers Xátiva's other claim to fame, being the first place in Europe to produce paper. The Moors brought the technology to make paper in the twelfth century via Arabia and North Africa. Given the influence of that product on the development of european civilisation, it struck us as something to be rather more proud of than having produced a couple of corrupt Popes!